How to Keep Kids Busy When The Weather Stinks!

Creativity is the key!

We all know that when the storms come and the kids are stuck inside, insanity comes. As the mother of two very rambunctious 9 and 5 year old's I see this first hand! So with the pending Hurricane Sandy hitting the East Coast and possibly knocking out power, sending you to seek shelter with a friend or in a community center and making cooking difficult, I've decided to write up some of the great ideas I have for keeping my kids busy during storms....and saving my sanity in the process!

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Build a Fort!

Whether you have a son or daughter, neice or nephew, grandchild, foster child or even just want to entertain yourself and your adult friends, Forts are COOL! Who doesn't remember building them out of blankets and chairs and books as kids? Not on is this a great way to keep them entertained for the duration of the building but it will give them their own areas to play in once its built! Not to mention there is some kind of sense of security that a fort gives during a storm.

The keys to a good fort are: Height, Weight to hold it down, and making sure you have enough room. Use the couch cushions, blankets, chairs, books, shower curtains, sheets...whatever you can imagine you can build! Make special areas for each of your kids, make a special spot for books and toys or to sleep and camp out. Add some camping lights or flashlights and close the entrance and do shadow puppets. Whatever you can think of, doing it in a fort makes it 10 times cooler!

When the lights go out, the fun begins!

The power going out is an inconveinance, lets be honest. We have as a society become accustomed to easy and fast. Our ancestors lived for generations without the things we now take for granted and their kids were happy and healthy. Not to mention, us worrying about not being able to charge our tablet or laptop is just going to make our kids more anxious when we should be making sure that they are distracted. So here are some great things we do when the lights go out!

1. Shadow Puppets

2. Read stories with flashlights

3. Cuddle and make up stories with everyone taking a turn

4. Take extra candle wax (parents touch only when cooled not kids!) and make wax figures

5. Play army men or barbies in your fort!

6. Play a game where everyone spreads out and one person (It) walks around and has to guess who the person is they encounter with touch alone!

7. Flashlight tag and Hide and seek

8. Board games! Candy Land, Monopoly, Chutes and Ladders and Jenga!

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Food!

Some foods are just not possible to make while the power is out but there are some great no cook options that you can easily make with your child (ren) when the power is on OR off!